The Dow's Bottom Drops Out
We got an up-close view today of how quickly the markets can turn, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average , once up as high as 75 points on the day, wiped out all of its gains in one rapid shift this afternoon. But don't look for drastically negative news coming out all of a sudden -- there isn't any. In fact, economic data released today has been strong. What's the deal with the Dow? Let's catch up with the stories and movers you need to know.
Bright spots in manufacturing
Factory order data came out strong today, right on the heels of yesterday's better-than-expected purchasing managers' index. Orders for U.S. factory-made goods climbed 2.1% in May, a strong showing that beat economist projections of a 1.9% gain and followed the Institute for Supply Management's report that manufacturing production climbed more than 4% last month. Durable-goods orders rose even more, climbing 3.7% in a reading that should make manufacturing firms smile. It's been a tough road recently for this hard-hit, cyclical sector, and even though Europe's continued recession and China's downturn are making the manufacturing industry sweat, signs of optimism are returning to the U.S. market.
The fall hasn't hurt the banking sector just yet, after the Federal Reserve unveiled new capital requirements to ensure further that major banks are protected against failure. JPMorgan Chase finished the day up 1.3%, although Bank of America's shares hung flat. The Fed's plan shouldn't be a problem for either of the companies: The central bank's decision means that banks will have to raise $4.5 billion in capital by 2019, but the Fed didn't raise capital requirements to be held against mortgages for banks. For big mortgage lenders such as Bank of America, the deal was a welcome one.
I wasn't such a good day around the rest of the Dow. Boeing shares fell 1.7% to lead the index south, despite a ton of momentum under this company's wings lately. Boeing's backlog of orders has picked up after the 787 cleared its grounding mess earlier in the year, with the company delivering its first 777-300 to Indonesia's Garuda Airlines today. While Boeing's commercial aerospace business looks to be in good hands, Boeing's rigorously testing its CST-100 manned space capsule for a NASA competition as it looks to ramp up its space services branch. The contest, which has pitted Boeing against the likes of SpaceX and other contenders in the industry, calls for the winning capsule to deliver its first manned mission to the International Space Station by 2017.
Microsoft shares were also on the downswing today, falling 1.2% after former Xbox chief Don Mattrick announced that he's leaving the company to head up social-gaming company Zynga. It's a questionable departure for Microsoft, considering the Xbox One console's projected release later this year, although the next-generation device has received its share of criticism over an earlier "always-online" status, something that Microsoft backtracked on later. CEO Steve Ballmer will temporarily head up the Xbox division, but regardless of who's in charge, Microsoft needs to start off with a bang this holiday season to entrench itself firmly in the battle for next-generation console sales against rival Sony and its PlayStation 4 device.
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